Waste Disposal – Duty of Care (Environmental Protection Act 1990, section 34)
What is the Duty of Care?
Businesses have a responsibility to:
Prevent the unauthorised or harmful disposal of waste by another person.
Prevent the escape of the waste from its or any other person's control.
That the transfer is only to an authorised person or to a person for authorised transport purposes
That there is transferred a written description of the waste that will enable other persons to avoid the unauthorised or harmful disposal of the waste and to comply with their own Duty of Care.
Waste producers must ensure the proper and safe disposal of waste even after it has been passed on to another party such as a waste contractor, scrap merchant, recycler, local council or skip hire company. The Duty of Care has no time limit, and extends until the waste has either been disposed of or fully recovered.
What does it mean for me?
The Duty of Care requires that you ensure that:
Waste is stored and disposed of responsibly.
Waste is only handled or dealt with by individuals or companies that are authorised by the Environment Agency to deal with it.
A record is kept of all waste received or transferred through a system of signed Waste Transfer Notes (WTN).
Waste can include any material such as general waste, redundant equipment and materials arising from works (rubble, furniture etc.). When dealing with waste management and recycling service providers you need to keep the following records and ensure they are up-to-date. Many businesses collect this information in a dedicated file.
